KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s stocks are “looking attractive” after being among the worst performers globally amid the pandemic, Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd’s group managing director Charon Wardini Mokhzani said.

       “Everything is looking attractive, ” he told Bloomberg TV on Tuesday.

       “The number of Covid-19 cases is up but I think the whole vaccination programme is doing well.”

       Note: * The benchmark KLCI Index has fallen about 8% from a December high

       * More than 7 million people have received at least one dose of the Covid vaccine, of which 2.1 million people are fully inoculated, according to the health ministry.

       * Malaysia is expected to return to normalcy this year, he said

       * Manufacturing sectors aren’t as badly affected as tourism and services sectors

       * Monday’s RM150bil (US$36bil) economic package offers a lot of cash transfer to the right people and will help to boost the economy, he said

       * MIDF sees “no bubble” with environmental, social, governance (ESG) assets, and expects the trend toward investing in ESG to stay

       * MIDF will launch an online investment platform that will allow Malaysians to trade U.S stocks on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq, he said.

       * MIDF is a unit of Malaysia’s largest state asset manager Permodalan Nasional Bhd. - Bloomberg